My wife is recovering in hospital from a kidney infection followed by pneumonia. She is ready to go home but the hospital is reluctant to release her until I obtain an oxygen concentrator and install it in her bedroom. I consider this an overkill but I am not a medical expert.

What is the opinion of members with medical knowledge?

This is impossible to say as it depends on specifics of her medical condition: her oxygenation levels both on oxygen and on room air, the condition of her lungs as seen on Xray etc.

 

This is not something hospitals often require, there must be a reason for it.

 

If her oxygenation is still iffy enough to need O2 at home then she should also have a pulse oximeter to monitor O2 levels.

Take a copy of the reports and get a second opinion.

16 hours ago, Maybole said:

until I obtain an oxygen concentrator and install it in her bedroom.

They are available on Lazada, just plug it in. Many different sizes from 7k to 22k, our local gov. hospital loaned me one. Is she in a private hospital?

this one is about 17-20k

 

 

 

This equipment can also be rented.

 

The larger question is why she needs it, which in turn raises issues about whether she is really rerady for discharge, has a long term condition etc etc

Her Blood oxygen levels are consistently 97-98%. I can understand the need for a particulate filter.

She was taken to a private hospital at our daughter's insistence in spite of being well treated and recovering well in the local hospital. Our local hospital seems to be on a par with NHS hospitals in Scotland.

10 hours ago, Maybole said:

Her Blood oxygen levels are consistently 97-98%.

 

On room air? Or on oxygen? (If on oxygen what is it off the oxygen?)

13 hours ago, Sheryl said:

 

On room air? Or on oxygen? (If on oxygen what is it off the oxygen?)

I have no Idea. She was attached to a monitor which was fed from her finger and she was not wearing the nebuliser all the time.

On 12/12/2023 at 10:17 PM, Maybole said:

Her Blood oxygen levels are consistently 97-98%.

 

dang... is that with the finger gauge?

mine are 89-93. sometimes i am lucky and hit 96... i have copd

best of luck...

you mentioned 'air purifier'. Dyson makes some of the best, but they are pretty expensive. we bought on ebat from the usa and had to buy power converter, but they work very well

It gets curiouser and curiuoser. Wife now tells me that all except her sister are banned from her room for fear of contamination. WIHIH.

10 hours ago, Maybole said:

I have no Idea. She was attached to a monitor which was fed from her finger and she was not wearing the nebuliser all the time.

If she had no oxygen mask or cannula on at the time then this was on room air.

 

Starting to sound like it may be nonsense to me.  Does she have any chronic lung or heart disease?

 

Ask the doctor in charge what the reason is for recommending oxygen at home given her good oxygenation levels on room air.

 

 

I did briefly consider buying one for emergencies when Covid struck.  If it had proven more contagious, you wouldn't have been able to get hold of one at any price.

13 hours ago, Maybole said:

It gets curiouser and curiuoser. Wife now tells me that all except her sister are banned from her room for fear of contamination. WIHIH.

 

Which suggests either that she is infectious (?COVID?) or has a suppressed immune system.

 

You mentioned a kidney infection. Is her kidney function compromised?

 

You really need to have an in-depth discussion with the head doctor. What hospital is this?

 

BTW air purifier and oxygen concentrator are entirely different things.  Air purifier is indicated if allergy or air pollution particles is a concern and if needed, is worth buying as such needs are usually long term.

 

Oxygen concentrator is a form of supplemental oxygen, needed only if due to disease a person is unable to oxygenate properly. Often just a temporary need except in cases of permanent lung damage.

Unable to talk to the doctor, he cannot speak English. My wife and her sister have a history of exaggeration. I am suspicious that all of this is unnecessary.

9 hours ago, Maybole said:

 My wife and her sister have a history of exaggeration.

 

That may have more to do with all this than anything the doctor or hospital staff are actually saying.

 

Might not just be exaggeration. They may be intentionally lying for some reason or other. May be  a family problem rather than a medical one.

 

Was the bit about  a home oxygen concentrator accompanied by a request for money?

 

Where is your daughter (who presumably speaks both  English and Thai?) in all this?

I thought your wife was taken to a private hospital, where? Usually they have english speaking staff.

 

All very bizzare.

 

Oxygen concentrators are rarely insisted on, as most medical professionals would recommend getting an O2 tank with 100% O2 and ask you to have one at home if you required O2 at home.

Oxygen concentrators are less reliable and don't have the ability to give that high a flow rate for emergencies.  

The only time oxygen contrators were really used were when O2 tanks were in low supply like during COVID so they were used as a surrogate.  

 

1L versions are fairly useless and 5L and 10L models can be quite expensive.  

 

You can order them from this shop via Line (@Kovet) otherwise:

 

 

2 hours ago, azt219 said:

I thought your wife was taken to a private hospital, where? Usually they have english speaking staff.

 

All very bizzare.

 

Oxygen concentrators are rarely insisted on, as most medical professionals would recommend getting an O2 tank with 100% O2 and ask you to have one at home if you required O2 at home.

Oxygen concentrators are less reliable and don't have the ability to give that high a flow rate for emergencies.  

The only time oxygen contrators were really used were when O2 tanks were in low supply like during COVID so they were used as a surrogate.  

 

 

They are also used -- widely -- for peopel with long term conditions (like COPD) that require low flow oxygen at home. Tanks that need refilling are nto very practical for long term use.

 

But no indication any of this applies to the OP's wife. Sounds more like his wife has other reasons for nto wanting to come home (or, apparently, have him visit)

The latest is that an Air Purifier was delivered to our home and I took it into the sitting room to open the package. Sister-in-Law went ape and ordered me to take it outside and open it there. Now she insists on feeding wife a patent food called BOOST by Nestles and a patent chicken essence. These foods only. I think she is paranoid, but any attempt at disagreeing results in an altercation Falangs don't know!

  I vaguely recall an article in the consumer magazine "Which" many years ago which dismissed the chicken essence as of no benefit, Home made soup would be just as good.

But I am only an ignorant Falang who knows nothing.